Salt and Canvas: Laguna Art Museum’s Surf and Sea Exhibitions

Laguna Art Museum sits right on the coast in Laguna Beach, and the ocean has run through its exhibitions for decades. Here is a look at its surf and sea shows, past and present, using the museum’s own exhibition pages.

Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing (2002)

From July 28 to October 6, 2002, the museum presented Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing. The museum describes it as its most well-attended show ever. It filled all three floors, nearly 8,000 square feet, and examined modern surfboard design from 1900 on, along with skateboarding, surf photography, film, clothing and music. It included works by artists such as Craig Kauffman, Billy Al Bengston and Robert Irwin. The museum’s page also covers surfing in early art, including the 1790 engraving View of Karakakooa, in Owyee, which it calls the first work of European art to depict a surfboard.

The show then traveled. The exhibition catalog, published by the museum with Gingko Press, lists stops at the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu (Jan. 31 to Mar. 30, 2003) and the San Jose Museum of Art (Aug. 16 to Nov. 3, 2003). The Los Angeles Times covered the opening in July 2002. The show was organized by then chief curator Tyler Stallings, according to the museum.

Surf Culture Redux (2005)

From July 3 to October 2, 2005, the museum brought the show back as Surf Culture Redux, a smaller version in one large main-floor gallery.

The sea in 2026

Frank Cuprien: For the Love of the Sea (March 21 to September 7, 2026) honored a founding figure of the Laguna Beach art colony and his seascapes of the Pacific. Andy Moses: Into the Light (March 21 to September 20, 2026) surveyed paintings shaped by the coastal light Moses grew up with in Los Angeles.

Now on view, Radiant Terrains: Elements of Light in Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection (September 19, 2026 to January 10, 2027) includes Anthony Friedkin’s photographs of breaking waves, as part of the museum’s annual Art + Nature program. Kim Manfredi: View with a Grain of Sand runs October 3, 2026 to January 18, 2027. Check the museum’s site for hours and tickets.

Story and illustration by Surfing Fukcs Crew. Illustration is original art, not a museum photo. Facts checked against the museum’s official pages and the sources below on Oct 30, 2026.